| Author | Message | ||
     Hangetsu |
I'm not a metallurgist so much of the above talk is lost on me, but if the contact of dissimilar metals actually has anything to do with the rapid corrosion, after coating the thing with your chosen substance, how about a strip of header wrap to insulate the metals from each other? | ||
| Chrisrogers3 |
Jlnance, a sacrifical anode/cathode should work. I dont have a redox chart in front of me to figure it all out but im pretty sure zinc would be the metal of choice. The placement and how its attached to the muffler would be something that would have to be experimented with but it could very well be an easy solution to this problem. Hangetsu, The answer is yes and no. Where the muffler rests up against the brackets yes (it would slow the process down substantially). You would have to use some other means where the muffler attaches at the header though. | ||
| Blake |
Galvanic oxidation occurs at the point of contact between the two metals having significantly different galvanic potentials. The rusty Buell mufflers are simply due to very poor finishing/protective coating. They need to be changed to stainless steel. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Finally, someone who isn't trying to make rocket science out of the situation. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Funny thing is, if you take a look at the photos above; the only places that aren't corroded are the points of contact between the two metals. | ||
| Tginnh |
Well, yeah. Stainless steel is the easy answer. The whole bike should be constructed of non-rustable parts and pieces. Wonder what that would do to the price. Didn't DeLorean try that with an auto once upon a time? The DeLorean was a huge seller...not. | ||
| Ourdee |
Delorean's problem was a lack of horse power. | ||
| Hangetsu |
There's no reason to get ridiculous over the matter. There are bikes in the same price range as the Buell and even lower that have done a lot better job at addressing these sorts of quality issues - they're made in Japan. And no, I would not prefer a Japanese motorcycle over my Buell, but when you’re talking about an $11,000 motorcycle, a little R&D in the anti-corrosion department, especially for components that are in direct line of fire of road grit and sludge, is not too much to ask. Kawasaki and Yamaha now have a few models with “mass-centralized” muffler systems and it’s my guess that we will NOT see these bursting out in end-to-end rust in less than a years’ time, regardless of the conditions they are ridden in. Function and performance are important, but it’s the quality of cosmetics that affect the overall longevity of a vehicle. This is equally important. | ||
| Prowler |
Delorean's problems were countless....stainless body panels but mild steel chassis and floor pan.....and a Renault engine for cripes sake.....the list goes on..... | ||
| Tginnh |
Agreed, Hangetsu. I was being flippant. Case in point - I own a Saturn Ion. It has a stainless exhaust system, timing chain, polymer composite body panels, and does not require a tune-up for 100k mi. All for 10k brand new. AND, it's american made! | ||
| Pso |
It sure is nice that the focus is now on rusting mufflers versus rear wheel bearings, chaffing wires, bad connector for the voltage regulator, bank angle sensor, side stand, belt upgrade, etc. Seems to me that Buell has been correcting its problems using some sort of triage to deal with the most critical first. I like the fact that the criticisms are now cosmetic versus mechanical. | ||
| Hangetsu |
These are all important "Pso". It's attention to these sorts of things that leads to a true quality consumer product. Performance on the race track is only the start. The Japanese, Germans, and I hope, Italians have figured out how to achieve both and, like Saturn, their products are competitively priced (most anyway). | ||
| Werewulf |
deloreans demise had little to do with his product... if i remember correctly, he was part of a drug cartel and got busted.. | ||
| Tginnh |
The demise of DeLorean had to do with financial problems for which he got involved in coke smuggling to raise funds. Somewhat analogous to the Iran-Contra affair which transpired around the same time frame... | ||
| Ourdee |
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| Blk_uly |
cool video  , Ourdee thanks! I remember wanting one as a adolesant dreamer | ||
| Blake |
One further clarification. Galvanic oxidation between dis-similar metals also requires the presence of moisture. No liquid H2O, no corrosion. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Well I just had my muffler swapped with a new one, under warranty of course. I was going to have it Jet coated before installation, but I got too impatient. I figured, I'd give the new part a chance. The first one rusted out within the first six months of riding a brand new bike, so with 18 months of warranty left, if the quality of the replacement is no better than the original I'll be replacing this one with time to spare. The next one will be Jet coated. What I found amusing is, this muffler rusted out at less than 5000 miles, so I had my 5K service done at the same time as the muffler swap. The bike had also developed a bit of popping and sputtering on deceleration while riding at low speeds. In investigating this, the dealer discovered holes in the old muffler. Replacing the muffler seems to have taken care of the "popping" problem. I find nothing surprising about holes in the muffler causing ridability problems, but what I do find surprising is that the muffler rusted completely through in less than 5000 miles. I do hope Buell takes this issue to heart. | ||
| Glen |
My Harley riding buddys spotted my rusty muffler last weekend while they were commenting on my hazed frame. the comment i got= i would be so pissed if i bought that bike. | ||
| Odie |
I use Duplicolor High-Heat Ceramic (DH 1602) on every pipe that leaves here. I have had my personal pipe on my bike for 4 years and have had zero rust issues. I have yet to repaint it. | ||
| Ronmold |
If the muffler isn't made of stainless or ceramic coated/aluminized inside and out, how can it not rust? We have the laws of physics here and O2 + FE (iron) + heat = rust! Would a lean mixture cause more internal corrosion? | ||
| Glen |
in all fairness to my Uly, most of the rust is were the paint has been blasted or scratched by road debris. the back that faces the rear tire is solid rust. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Sorry guys, but mine burst out in rust everywhere and it had no chips or scratches anywhere. As for the stainless or ceramic coating options - yes, that's what the muffler needs - from the factory. I expect to dump $$$ in my bike to customize it, not to simply make it roadworthy. That's the manufacturer's job. | ||
| Crusty |
Do you consider your car to be flawed because the muffler has rust on it? Buell had stainless mufflers back in '97 and '98. Everybody bitched that they looked ugly. My bike has a rusty muffler. I wouldn't be afraid to get on it and ride across the country. It's roadworthy. It could look a little prettier, though. I've done several things to my bike to make it look nicer. When I get the Muffler coated, it will be for just that purpose. It won't run one lick better; it'll just look nicer. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Not for a car. You don't see the muffler on a car or truck. On a bike however, the muffler is as much a cosmetic feature as the air box cover or faring. That aside, many cars now come quipped from the factory with stainless exhaust systems because they last and that equates to long term roadworthiness. I'm sure that few here would disagree that there is an aesthetic appeal to every exposed part on a motorcycle and to this regard, a muffler that will rust out in less than six months is, in my opinion, an unacceptable situation for an $11,000 motorcycle. | ||
| Thetable |
Have any examples? I can't think of any off the top of my head. Almost all the exhaust I have seen OEM are aluminized, and as to why Buell didn't go that route is beyond me except perhaps paint doesn't stick particularly well to the aluminized finish. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Saturn for one. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I don't consider a rust prone muffler a flaw but I do consider it a mistake. Give me one good reason that the mufflers shouldn't last the life of the bike when we all know that Stainless Steel would last the life of the bike. I really doubt that a SS muffler would be any uglier than rusty muffler we have already. Wouldn't it be more cost effective to provide a SS muffler than to replace all these mufflers once on warranty and also p.iss off everyone in the process? We wouldn't even be discussing the SS muffler because it wouldn't be causing anyone any grief. What I really can't understand is that my muffler was replaced once because of rust but they replaced it with the very same rust prone POS. Other than the rust I have no other complaints about the muffler as it is nice and quiet just the way I like it. Why Buell keeps installing these crappy mufflers on their assembly lines is just plain stubbornness. | ||
| Thetable |
Google tells me that only the Sky and the Outlook XR (but not the base model Outlook) have stainless exhaust. | ||
| Tginnh |
You missed my post:
The Ion is no more. BIG mistake IMO. We need more autos on the road like it. Chalk up another F'up to GM. |
